Bullying, racism and mental health are just some of the issues troubling the youth in Canterbury-Bankstown.

In a week-long program, more than 600 young people participated in 17 events, classes and activities across the City.

Residents aged between 12-24 years shared their ideas and “first hand” experiences about the issues important to them and offered some real solutions.

Mayor Khal Asfour said he’s pleased to announce that this year’s Youth Week celebrations were bigger and better than ever.

“With their fresh perspectives and ideas, young people play such an important role in our City,” he said.

“I am proud to give our youth somewhere to connect and have fun.

“I’m particularly proud of the 20 young people who represented Canterbury-Bankstown at Meeting of the Minds on Wednesday 21 April and spoke up about the issues most important to them.”

Meeting of the Minds consisted of youth reference groups run by Council, Headspace Bankstown, South Western Sydney Health District, Youth off the Streets and Mission Australia, who came together to share the top issues that they saw within South Western Sydney.

Mental health and emotional wellbeing was raised as a top issue across all reference groups, with many young people experiencing stress related to education, employment, family conflict, bullying, racism and discrimination.

Mayor Asfour said to further help local youths, Council plans to host a specialised youth mental health summit in 2021. The summit will be led and designed by young people across the City with assistance from local youth workers.

“Our Youth Week activities are designed to help young people navigate the challenges they’re so often faced with,” Mayor Asfour said.

“CBCity remains committed to supporting our youth and creating a better City”

For more information about our youth programs, visit cb.city/Youth